


(Scary) Bedtime Story

by MystiaKatsuragi



Category: Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid - Hans Christian Andersen, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Based on a True Story, Bedtime Stories, Henry ruins everything, Multi, Scary Stories, and The Little Mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-27 14:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6288550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MystiaKatsuragi/pseuds/MystiaKatsuragi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry, Ricken, and Nowi spend the night together. Ricken reads Nowi a bedtime story, but Henry ruins the happy ending. Written for SparxPunx for the FE13 shipping scramble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Scary) Bedtime Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SparxPunx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparxPunx/gifts).



> This was supposed to be a lot longer and broken into several chapters. However, upon rereading the entire document, I threw out most of the story because it read like something written by my seven-year-old sister. Sorry it wasn't longer, SparxPunx, but I hope you like this fic anyways. c=

The Shepherds took a reprieve from traveling due to injuries sustained by most of the group during a battle with a horde of Risen. On the night of the third day, when the group gathered around the campfire for dinner, Chrom informed everyone that tonight would be the last they spent in this area. Gaius and Olivia had recovered, the prince announced to the army, so the Shepherds could get going in the morning.

Several hours later, after the rest of the Shepherds turned in for the night, Henry, Ricken, and Nowi cleaned up the mess made by the campfire.

“That was a lot of fun!” Nowi exclaimed as she extinguished the fire. “I wish we could tell scary stories every night!”

Ricken waved his staff over the wood, cooling it off so he could pick up the logs. “It was a good way to pass the time,” he said, carrying the wood toward the Shepherds’ wagon, where it would be stored until someone--probably Vaike--decided to use the logs for training. “I’m happy everyone enjoyed themselves. Oof, these are pretty heavy.”

Henry lifted some of the logs from the pile Ricken was carrying in his hands and walked with him to the wagon. “It’s too bad we had to quit for the night,” Henry complained, a slight pout on his face. “Robin made us stop before I got to take my turn. I came up with scarier stories than Olivia’s, and I wanted to share them with everyone.” His pout turned into a smile as he added, “At least I can tell you guys!”

“Wow, how about that fish we ate for dinner?” Nowi said loudly as she walked away from the wagon and headed toward the barracks. “Was it tasty or what? I haven’t had something THAT delicious in forever!”

Henry ignored Nowi’s attempt at changing the subject and kept talking. “Most of my scary stories are about animals. Do you wanna hear about the deer who--”

“I think the secret to the fish was this wood,” Ricken interrupted, talking over Henry, matching his stride with Nowi’s. “Mesquite trees give a lot of flavor to food when it’s cooked over the wood.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Nowi said, and the two glanced at Henry. The pout had returned to his face again. Nowi sighed and tried to comfort their white-haired friend. “I’m sure your stories are really scary, but I don’t think either of us wanna have nightmares tonight.” Ricken nodded his head, and Nowi continued, “I’m sorry, Henry, but we still love you. You’re our best friend, right, Ricken?” The brunet nodded again, then he and Nowi showed a pair of smiles to the sulking sorcerer.

Henry smiled back at them, apparently taking Nowi’s comment as a compliment. He wrapped his arms around his friends, pulling both of them into a group hug. “You guys are great,” he laughed, swaying back and forth, mimicking the wind blowing through the camp. “Even greater than cheese graters!” A shiver ran down Nowi’s spine, and Henry let go of her. “It’s getting cold, huh? We should head to bed. We gotta get up early.”

Ricken and Nowi agreed, then the boys headed for their barracks, but they paused when Nowi did not move from her spot. She stared at her tent and told them, “I don’t wanna sleep with Tharja tonight. She’s still in a bad mood after Robin yelled at her for putting a curse on Panne.” She shifted her gaze to the forest. “Last time I slept outside, I burned a lot of things, remember?”

Ricken nodded his head, remembering the Dragonstone incident all too well, then engaged in a brief nonverbal conversation with Henry, who smiled and gave Ricken two thumbs up. “You can stay in our tent for tonight,” Ricken told the manakete, and Henry nodded in agreement with this decision. “I can read you a bedtime story from the book Sumia gave me for my birthday.”

“Ooh, another story!” Nowi cheered, entering the tent shared by Henry and Ricken. “But I don’t wanna hear a scary one.”

“That’s alright,” Ricken said over his shoulder as he retrieved the book of bedtime stories. “Most of the stories in this book aren’t scary. That’s why they’re bedtime stories.” He flipped through the pages and stopped when he reached a specific story. “How about _The Little Manakete_?”

“I’ve heard that one before,” Henry mumbled, but his comment was drowned out by Nowi’s squeal. He sighed and turned his head to stare at the fabric of the tent while Ricken started to read the story.

“The Divine Dragon Naga’s kingdom was bustling with excitement. Dragons were gathering to hear Naga’s daughter, Tiki, sing in a concert for the very first time. Tiki had the most beautiful voice in the kingdom.”

Ricken continued to read, accompanied by the occasional outburst from Nowi, who sat behind Ricken on his bed and read the book over his shoulder. By the time Prince Marth appeared, Henry had turned his head to look at his friends, intrigued by this retelling of the story, so all three of them were fixated on the story. However, he kept interjecting, comparing Ricken’s bedtime story to the one he heard as a child.

“The humans murdered most of the Divine Dragons,” Henry cheerfully explained, pointing his finger at the top of the tent. “King Naga was one of the last dragons to die. With the last bit of power from her Divinestone, she put little Tiki into a deep sleep. A thousand years passed before Tiki woke up, but by then, Prince Marth was long gone.” He smiled and finished, “That’s how I remember _The Little Manakete_.”

Before the white-haired magician told his version of the story, Nowi had closed her eyelids and rested her head on Ricken’s pillow; she was on the verge of falling asleep. By the time Henry was done, she was wide awake and crying into Ricken’s cape, which the brunet was using to wipe away his own tears. The two of them hugged each other and cried about the sad ending of Henry’s version of the story.

Upon realizing he had traumatized his best friends, Henry felt like a terrible person. He tried to comfort them, which worked about as well as pouring cooking oil into a campfire. At this rate, neither Ricken nor Nowi would fall asleep any time soon, and if they did not wake up before Chrom and the rest of the Shepherds, they would be in trouble.

While their eyes were closed, Henry cast a spell on Ricken and Nowi, and within the next minute, his friends were fast asleep. He congratulated himself on modifying his spell from a nightmare-inducing curse into a simple sleeping spell before pulling the blanket over himself as well as Ricken and Nowi. His friends would sleep peacefully, he thought, and they would all be well rested and ready to travel and battle again upon their awakening.


End file.
